


Children With A State Of Silence

by acottoncandysoul



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Orphanage, Angst, Child Abandonment, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Demonic Possession, Fire, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Homelessness, Homosexual, Hospitals, Killing, M/M, Mario Kart, Muteness, Orphans, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse, Protectiveness, Roommates, Running Away, Sharing a Bed, Tags Are Hard, YouTube, jim pickens - Freeform, protect Kevin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24375946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acottoncandysoul/pseuds/acottoncandysoul
Summary: Five year old Kevin never meant for it to go this far, he just wanted to be safe from his family for once. The fire that was meant to protect him, sent him off to a orphanage in Dublin instead.But after meeting a group of kids with similar stories, it may not be so bad. Maybe he'll even find a better family then before.
Relationships: Daniel Condren/Kevin O'Reilly
Comments: 13
Kudos: 80





	Children With A State Of Silence

**Author's Note:**

> Yee a new fic!   
> Ayy wrote this all in one day, and translated it to English the next following morning but I couldn't do it alone.   
> I had a wonderful person named robyndoesntlikeyou fix it up for me, they spent their night reading it and fixing my grammar so you guys should really go check them out! And it's official, I've adopted them as my parent.
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoy my fic please read the tags carefully as there's mention of murder, abandonment, and child neglect (which is a form of child abuse, I know it could trigger some)   
> but also remember this is a very wholesome fic about family!!

Tall honey and ember coloured flames danced beautifully around, making the extermination of the four walls that trapped the small sobbing child who buried his face into the chest of his small plushy seem more like a pleasure than its purpose. Two bodies in the middle of the room were being mangled by the flames before him, and he knew he was next. The fire was supposed to protect him - it got rid of his main source of fear. But as it grew bigger, he began to fear it instead. Only five years old and he spent all of it being unwanted, but now, as he hid under the kitchen table, he was the prey towards something stronger than he was once again.

The more time he spent safe with his doll, tucked away under the table, the more infuriated and rash the fire got. He propped the doll on his knees as the fire crackled, making him flinch.  
“Jim," he whimpered out ducking his head down. “Jim, what do I do?”  
He snuggled the toy back into his chest. Where did Jim go? Jim was supposed to walk him through all of this. The child didn’t understand his toy’s plan, but went along with it. 

The lighter on his dad's nightstand, the gas in the trunk of his dad's car. 

“Kevin."  
A voice called out to him, making the child's head shoot up as he looked around the fiery room. “Kevin, it's time.”  
“Jim," Kevin cried out as his eyes focused on a silhouette that walked towards him. The fire bent around the silhouette, not daring to harm it. Kevin smiled an empty smile as he recognized the figure. “Jim! You came back for me!"

“It's time, Kevin,” Jim repeated, bending down and lending out a hand. He smiled wickedly, but Kevin could barely see past the smoke anymore. He reached for Jim's hand, but a mask-donning man bursted into the room, the open door feeding him fresh air. The fire attacked him ruthlessly but a thick bright yellow jacket protected him. Kevin whimpered and turned back to look at Jim, but he was already gone. He gripped his doll tightly and looked down at it. Kevin wondered why he left again.

The fireman grabbed Kevin and hugged the boy to his chest, his head rested on the man's shoulder as the sight of his family mangled bodies disappeared into the fire-engulfed room. He hugged the doll once they reached the street, the rest of the fireman working hard on trying to kill the fire. Kevin began to sob out as they tried to pried him away from his rescuer. The fireman told them to stop and work on the fire, as he cradled Kevin closer as he turned around walking further away from the house. Kevin gasped as he saw the entirety of what he had done. What Jim told him to do. 

By the time Kevin stopped crying and let people in black suits with a truck filled with medicine look at his damaged skin, the fire was gone, leaving the house and the people inside reduced to mere splinters and ash. Sitting on the fireman's lap, he held out his doll to one of the paramedics.  
“Do you want us to see if he's hurt?” the woman who cleaned his face asked. Kevin sniffed and nodded softly.  
“What's his name?” she asked, kneeling down to carefully take the plushy from the boy and running her fingers across his stitching.  
Kevin didn’t respond, only tapping the tag that sewed on the back of the doll's leg.  
“'Jim Pickens', eh? Well, I'm glad to say both you and Jim will be alright. Nothing a trip to the hospital won't fix,” she handed the fireman a water bottle for him to open for Kevin.  
“I'd like to go with him,” the fireman said, as he handed the water bottle to Kevin. He drank it as fast as it would go down.  
“Yes, I think that would be best. I dont think he should be alone. But, may I talk to you-” she looked at kevin before adding, -"privately."  
Another paramedic appeared with a shiny silver blanket. He sat down and pulled Kevin over to him, sitting the child on his lap, who complied easier this time since he was given Jim before the fireman and woman disappeared. The blanket wrapped around him tightly, but he hugged Jim tighter. The paramedic talked to Kevin, trying to get him to respond, but Kevin didn’t make as much as a peep, in too much of a shock to even realize that he had fallen asleep.  
\--  
A policeman came by the next day. She walked in with the doctors and asked to take a seat in a chair that was by the window. When Kevin didn’t respond, the doctor reminded her that he hasn’t said a word to any of them.  
“Okay. Can you nod yes and shake your head no?” she asked him.  
Kevin nodded softly, his small hands gripping the blanket tightly.  
“May I sit down?”  
Kevin nodded and she picked up the chair bringing it next to the bed. “Okay sweetie, I know you don't want to talk, but there are questions that need to be answered. So I'm going to ask you yes or no questions about last night. Is that alright?”  
Kevin froze and after a few moments nodded  
“Alright. If you need to take a break, or need to stop, put your hands on the side of your head. Do you understand?"  
Kevin nodded.  
She pulled out a small notebook from her belt. "Okay, sweetie. what's that?”  
Kevin looked down at Jim and held him up to her, tugging at the tag.  
“'Jim Pickens'? Most kids your age have teddy bears or dog plushies, not an old man."  
Kevin frowned and pulled Jim back to his lap.  
She sighed, before speaking again. "Do you understand what happened to your home?”  
A small nod.  
“Do you know that your family did not make it out?”  
Another nod.  
“Do you have any other family members that could be called in?”  
He shook his head, and she nodded understandingly, scribbling something down.  
“This a tricky question, are you ready?”  
He nodded shyly.  
She leaned forward. “Do you know who or what started the fire?"  
Kevin whimpered and hugged Jim tighter. A big part of Jim's plan was not to tell anyone. Jim made that abundantly clear, to follow without a second thought and to never tell them it was Jim's idea.  
The police officer cast a glance at the doctors. “Honey, if you know how this happened, you have to tell us. They need to be put away."  
Kevin gasped. They wanted to take Jim away from him!

He could feel the doll move on his lap. 

Kevin's hand shot to the side of his head and he let out a shriek as he pulled at his own hair. Doctors pinned him down as they tried to release his grip, but he couldn't stop. Kevin thrashed around and fought against them desperately. A nurse hurried in and grabbed a tube that was coming out of Kevin and used a syringe to inject something in his bloodstream. They all let go of him as he began to calm down, Kevin looked at the policeman as he grasped Jim with one hand. She tilted her head and grabbed him from the child.  
“He should be falling asleep any minute now," a doctor told the officer. “You can come back tomorrow, but we're going to have a therapist talk to him in the morning."  
She looked up at the doctors and nodded curtly. “Thank you."  
She placed Jim between Kevin's arms and walked away. He listened to the doctor and the policewoman as they talked outside his door. The place he has been living in for the last three years was listed under an unmarried man - his mom's boyfriend, and his father. Kevin was homeschooled by his older sister, who taught herself. His mother spent her life in the house watching television - but it wasn't as if that mattered anymore. 

He hugged Jim and turned on his side, wincing at the brief pain. What was the plan now? When would Kevin be alone so that Jim could return and tell him what to do next?  
-  
The therapist was very different from what he saw on television. She didn't ask questions, just wanted to see him draw. She said he was one of the best artists that she'd ever seen.  
“That's great! Is that your doll?” she smiled  
Kevin nodded and wrote Jim in red bold letters,  
She nodded and picked up the crayon box. “Why dont you sign your work?”  
Kevin smiled and picked up a blue crayon. Writing his name in small letters under Jim's. The therapist pulled out another piece of paper “Why don't you draw your family for me, Kevin? This will only take a moment; I’ll be right back."

She stood, collecting the drawings. Kevin heard her voice, faint down the hall - “Doctor, I need to speak to you about our patient."

The doctor's voice carried well, and Kevin felt an urge to press his ear against the door to listen. “Very well. What have you found so far?”

"Look here," the therapist responded. There was a faint rustling of papers. “The kid's name is Kevin. Look at how he decided to write it. Small and thin. Now look at Jim, he's bolder, bigger and on top of his name.” The doctor flipped through the pile, carefully inspecting the drawings. “Jim is in each and every picture. Either always looming over the child, or in the spot where you'd think Kevin would be.” 

“What does this mean?” the doctor asked. “It looks as if Jim is protecting him."

“Maybe in some, but look at this one," she took the pile back and shuffled them around, pulling out a peculiar drawing. The doctor's eyes widened.  
“He drew..” she trailed off.  
“He thinks Jim started the fire and killed his family.”  
There he was, the paper was scribbled with red, gold, and orange. In the center was Jim, smiling brightly with a small Kevin standing next to him, missing his face.

“Do you think this Jim Pickens is a real person? Or an imaginary friend?”

“I'm not sure yet,” the therapist sighed. “I'd like to talk to him more, but I know the police are going to take him to the orphanage in Dublin tomorrow."

“It is a shame we couldn't find anyone he's related to. Knowing his name is Kevin, it might be easier, but it would certainly be better if we had a last name to go with it."

“Baby steps” the therapist cut the doctor off. “Now, I need to head back to him. I don't think it's a good idea to leave him alone for long."

The doctor smiled and looked at her clipboard. “We’ll talk some more later tonight, alright?”  
\--  
Kevin looked so small in the back of the cop car, especially when there was a large soda between his legs and a fast food burger in his face. The police officer heard Kevin refused to eat the hospital food, so as a peace offering to get in the car, the officer told him he could have anything he wanted to eat.

He didn't understand where he was going, but it felt nice to get out of that hospital gown and into real clothes - even if it was the dirty ones from that terrible night. They smelled faintly of smoke and had bits of the ash stuck to the fabric. He didn't have any shoes either, just bright orange hospital socks keeping his toes warm.

The hospital gave him a thin colouring book filled with cartoon doctors and nurses to keep him busy on the two hour drive to Dublin. He finished pretty quickly and had to spend the rest of the ride ripping up the fast food bag and watching the countryside turn into city, then city into a small town. Kevin sat up as they pulled up to a huge house, grabbing Jim from next to him as the police officer opened the kids door for him.  
“Come on, Kevin."

Naturally curious kids, who were either playing in the front yard or in the house by windows, watched as he hopped out. The caretaker walked out the door to greet them at the gate. She took kevins hand and thanked the policeman as she handed him a folder with Kevin's name on the top.

“Goodbye, Kevin," she bent down, resting her hands on her thighs “Be good, alright?” she patted his head and turned away, getting into her car and disappearing.

The caretaker tugged on Kevin's arm “Come on, sweetie, you must be tired.”  
They passed the yard and walked up the stairs as she explained the rules and where everything was. “You’ll be sharing a room with four other boys around your age. They’ll teach you how everything around here works."

They stopped at the foot of the stairs, there was another big room with a group of boys watching two more play pokemon. “Listen, Kevin. I know this change will be hard, but we want to help you -I want to help you. I’m going to try to make this process as easy as possible. You’re cute, you’re young. You’ll find a new family soon," she crouched down and brushed her finger across Kevins's cheek. “There's nothing to worry about, and look-” she pointed to a door right across the hall. “That's where I sleep. If you need anything at all, come knock on my door. Alright?”  
Without giving Kevin a chance to respond she stood up and they walked across the room and down a hall. Most of the doors were open, showing empty rooms with abandoned stuff laying across the floors and desks.

Loud shouting came from one room at the end of the hall. They stopped in front of it and the caretaker knocked on the door “Boys, what have we said about closing doors during the day?”

There was a loud thud, someone telling people to shush, and the door creaking open to reveal a boy in all black.  
“Hi, miss! We're sorry, we wanted to be loud and not bother anyone else,” he smiled innocently.

“That's a good lie,” Kevin heard someone whisper from a pile of blankets and pillows. There was a soft smacking sound and someone telling the whisperer to hush.

The caretaker rolled her eyes, letting go of Kevin's hand. “Seán, this is Kevin. He’s going to be your new roommate. Please play nice."

“We will! Come on, Kevin,” he stepped back into the room, and Kevin looked back at the caretaker. She gave him a soft push forward. "I’m Seán, but everyone calls me Jack. That's our pillow fort. We were just finishing up a game of Mario Kart," he pulled a blanket back and allowed Kevin to walk inside.

Three other boys sat on the floor or a pillow, all with small controllers in hand. 

"That's David, but we call him Daithi. That one's Brian, and that one's Daniel."

“Hello there!" Daithi waved, his accent heavy. “Come sit down with us, you can play as me this round."  
One of them threw a smack against his shoulder. "Have you considered that he doesn't know how?"  
"Oh, right. Do you know how to play?"  
Kevin shook his head and sat down a distance away from the group of boys, they all stared at him waiting for him to speak but when Daithi realized Kevin wasn't going to say anything, he shrugged. “That's alright, then. I’ll teach you."

“Maybe Dan should teach him instead. He actually knows how to play," one of them snickered. Kevin wasn't sure who. 

“I'm not that good, guys,” Daniel blushed and turned to face the TV  
“Oh, come on mate! You’ve beaten everyone who's ever played against you, even the adults. That's why he has the television," Daithi added to Kevin.

“It was donated,” Daniel huffed. “I didn't win anything."

“We all knew the winner gets the tele for their room,” Jack pointed out. “It was an unspoken agreement."

“Whatever, let's just play.” 

“Okay, here's your controller,” Daithi said, shoving a small remote into his lap.

“You teach him, I’ll go close the door again," Jack said.

“Maybe he should watch us play first, and play next round," Brian suggested.

“Hm… maybe," Daithi tapped the controller “Kevin, do you just wanna watch first?”

Kevin bit his lip and nodded again. Brian smiled triumphantly at Daithi before telling Daniel to unpause. Jack shouted from outside the fort to wait for him, but Brian chanted “Slowpoke” over and over as the race began again. Jack ran inside and stumbled around, grabbing at his controller. “This isn't fair! I was in second place!” he whined.

“Now you're in forth,” Daithi smiled, “and I’m second."

“Pfft, not anymore, I have a red shell and I'm coming for you” Brian shouted.

“Oi, back off mate! You’ll forever be third place, ” Daithi pushed Brian playfully as Daniel passed the finish line. They all groaned as they watched his Mii character dance in the car.

Kevin smiled and let Jim fall onto his lap. He wanted to try and hoped they didn’t forget about him. His stomach twisted as the seconds went by waiting for the cut sense to end. He's been forgotten about more than a child should be, so he wouldn't be surprised if they pressed continue without even glancing at him.

When Daithi turned to face Kevin and told him to move closer to see the television better, Kevin was excited. He scooted up next to Daithi and grabbed the switch controller

“You're holding it upside down, mate” Daithi laughed and fixed it for him. “Okay. Press this one to go, move this joystick around to move the car, and that one makes the items work. Got that? Okay, good."

“Ready?” Daniel asked, turning to check on his friends.

“Yeah," Brian answered, eyes fixated on the screen.  
"Hey, wait, I have an idea. Kevin should choose the track," Jack paused for a moment. "Just don't choose SNES Rainbow Road."

“Just move around the joystick then press the button that makes your car go. You're player number four”

Kevin jerked the joystick around till he found SNES Rainbow Road and selected it. Seán gasped playfully, and the three kids burst into laughter. They all moved their selections to SNES Rainbow Road so no matter what the game choose it would be SNES Rainbow Road

"I love him already,” Daniel wheezed out as the game loaded. 

Daithi pointed at a corner of the screen “That's us, right there. Kevin, get ready to press down!"

The timer reached one, and everyone sped off, leaving Kevin's car in the dust.  
“Press go, press it now!” Daithi encouraged. Kevin thumbled for the controls, it sped forward and fell off the map within seconds.  
”Turn, Kevin, turn!” Daithi yelled. “Use the joystick!"

“Aw, Daithi, stop yelling at him. He's trying his best,” Jack interrupted, frowning.

“You're one to talk, Mr. First Place,” Daithi hissed back.

“Yeah, don't worry Daithi, that's about to change!” Daniel smiled and a black ink covered everyone's screen - everyone except Daniel, of course, who sped past Jack's car and got first place. 

“It's okay, Kevin,” Daithi told him. “We can still win this."

“No you can't, we’re already on lap two.”

“Shut up, Brian. Kevin, don't listen to him!"

“Maybe we should turn on auto steer for Kevin, since this is the first time playing," Daniel suggested, watching as Kevin fell off the map for the fourth time on a single strip of road, “It's only fair,"

“He hasn't said anything yet,” Brian commented. Daithi growled and threw a pillow at his friend's head.

“Do you ever shut up!"

Kevin's grip on the controller tightened. He was right, though. Kevin hasn't said anything yet, and he wanted to stay silent forever. It was confusing still, on everything that has and had happened, even on what will happen. Kevin was totally out of control in his own life right now, the only thing he knew is that a five year old shouldn’t have to deal with this. Five year olds aren’t supposed to kill their entire families and play mario kart with a bunch of boys in the same week. His grip loosened and the car slowed down, Daithi shook his shoulder and told him to get his head in the game.

“That's it,” Daniel said as he paused the game. “I'm turning on his auto steer. There, Kevin, that should make it a bit easier for you now."

They played five rounds of mario kart, Daithi and Kevin switching the controller each time. Even if Kevin never won a round, they all cheered him on and told him short cuts he could use. Daithi never did win, but he got closer than Kevin did. At the end of his round, he sighed and laid back, resting his head on his hand. “Man, we should head down to see if dinner is done. I'm starving."

“Yeah, me too. We’ve been up here all day. Tomorrow, we should go to the river and show Kevin around,” Daniel suggested.

Kevin perked up. River? He didn't know Dublin had rivers. Cork had a lot of rivers you could fish in, and even though he never actually did it, he and his sister used to sit on the rocks and watch other people.

“It's more like a really big stream,” Brian shrugged and stood up stretching his back. “Come on, I heard it's soup and sandwiches tonight."

They all left the pillow fort and walked towards the door. Kevin grabbed Jim and turned to follow but Jack grinned and stopped Kevin “You shouldn't bring that with you”

“Yeah Kevin, the other kids might take it or it could get dirty. It's best if you put it away. Here give it to me” Daniel held his hand out. Kevin squeezed his doll before giving in.

“Don't worry I’ll put him on your bed, and he’ll be waiting for you when we come back,” Daniel jumped on the lower wood of the bunk bed and tucked him in under the blanket on the top bunk “There, see? All tucked in. He’ll take a nap while he waits for you!” Daniel smiled and grabbed Kevin by the hand, trying to catch up with the others. Kevin frowned as he stared at Jim while being pulled out of the room. He couldn't remember the last time he didn’t have the plushy near him. Would Jim be okay? Would Jim get mad?

Would Kevin be okay?  
\--  
There were twenty-something other boys sitting at the table, all different ages. All talking over each other, eating their potato soup and bread rolls. Kevin sat between Jack and Daniel, sipping his Cidona watching his roommates talk about what to do after dinner. He only touched the soup to push it away from his face. The caretaker noticed and asked if he liked soup, he shook his head aggressively in sutter disgust. She left towards the kitchen and came back 15 minutes later with mashed potatoes and five strips of chicken.

“Ma’am, can I have that kids soup?” someone called out from down the table.

“No, you already ate yours. I'm going to see if the groundskeeper is hungry. Be good, boys!" she scooped up the bowl and left once again.

Kevin was busy shovelling the mashed potatoes into his mouth when something small and wet smacked the side of his face. He blinked and looked down at the table to figure out what happened. To his surprise, a chunk of potato from the soup was splattered on the wood. He looked up, trying to spot the culprit - a kid, double his age, with his spoon sticking up in the air facing him. 

“Hey!” Seán shouted, “I saw that!”

“My mistake, I was aiming for you ” the kid smiled innocently. Jack opened his mouth to yell something back but shut it when the screen door creaked open. He just huffed and looked at Kevin. “Are you okay?”

Kevin nodded softly. He turned back to the food, feeling his appetite suddenly disappearing.  
“Here," Daniel handed him a napkin. “You can bring your chicken into the room and eat it later if you get hungry. Just don't forget about it.”

Kevin smiled and wrapped them up and shoved them into his hoodie's kangaroo pocket. He stood up and walked out to the living room, he found the bathroom and slipped in. As he washed the side of his face, a loud ringing sound blared in his ears, he flinched and pressed his palm against it. His neck twitched and he shook his head at the unfamiliar feeling. He looked at the mirror and saw Jim as a person looming over him with a blank face, not the doll. But, when he blinked, Jim was gone. Kevin frowned and jumped off the stool, pushing it back where he found it. Jim seemed to be staring at himself, not Kevin, which made him sad. Why wouldn't Jim look at him? Was it because he left him in the room? That wasn't his fault! Daniel was right about him getting dirty - Kevin got dirty. Soup was splattered on his forehead. What would he do if he got soup on Jim? Jim hated soup too, and he wouldn't have forgiven Kevin if he got him dirty.

The dining room was empty now, just a group of kids cleaning the plates, cups, and bowls. One looked up at Kevin and frowned, making him feel uneasy. Kevin turned around and ran up the stairs. The television was blasting a movie and he searched the couches for his friends. They must have been in the room. He ran down the hall and relaxed when he saw the light bleed from under the door.

“Oh, hey Kevin!” Daniel greeted as his head popped out from the pillow fort. “Are you okay? We couldn't find you after you ran off. I was- we were," he stopped, correcting himself, "worried."

Kevin smiled and nodded. He didn't mean to scare them. He just wanted the soup off of his skin.  
“Well, the caretaker brought you some pajamas, there on your bed. Come into the fort once you're done!” Daniel disappeared and Kevin struggled to climb to the top bunk. Once he got on he looked around the room for the first time. He wasn't able to see anything while in the fort, but he wasn't missing much. It was just three bunk beds, one on either side of the door and one pressed against the back wall, and two dressers that were pushed to the middle of the room to act as walls for the fort. The walls were a white-cream colour and the bedsheets were red. There was another door on the left wall, which Kevin decided was a closet. 

The pajamas were a very plain white shirt and spiderman sweatpants. The shirt was too big, but the pants seemed to fit him okay, they went down and covered his toes but when he walked into the fort and sat down Daniel rolled them up for him, saying how he didnt want him to trip or anything. Kevin felt his face go red. No one had ever rolled up his clothes before. Not even his sister, who tried her best to take care of him, until her fourteenth birthday when she ran away from home. She left Kevin alone with his father and mother, the same people she described as monsters. 

Kevin tried to change his train of thought and watched the other kids play Uno, waiting for the round to end so they could deal him in. He watched as Daithi totally destroyed the others, stacking his draw two cards to take out Jack. Sadly that excited feeling was pushed away as he zoned out against his own will, like something deep inside him wanted to remember the day his sister left. It was the very first time he saw Jim - not just a doll, but a real person. It was the first day Jim told him about a great plan to try to get his sister to come back. It was the alcohol and cigarettes that drove her away, so maybe if he got them all out of the house, she would come back! 

Yes, that should have worked. It was a smart idea. Kevin rounded every cigarette up and buried them in a flower pot, he was proud it worked so well, or it was supposed to.  
Before he could do anything with the alcohol his dad had found out already and yelled. He yelled and yelled until Kevin thought he was going deaf.

“Kevin, you ready?” Kevin perked up at Daithi's voice, nodding and crawling over to the group.

“In this game, you have to call out uno but since you can't really do that… we should play in teams!”

“But there's five of us, Jack. It would be unfair for one team to have more people then the other” Brian shot out.

“I’ll play alone, then,” Daithi said, “I don't need anyone weighing me down anyways!"

“Fine. I’ll take Jack on my team,” Brian said , sticking his tongue out at Daithi and gripping onto his friend's arm.

“Alright, Kevin,” Daniel turned to face his team mate. “We can do this!” Kevin smiled and nodded, scooting up next to Daniel, their arms brushing together as Jack handed out decks to his friends. Kevin grabbed the deck from the floor and started organizing the colours. They had one green take two card and one red uno reverse among the normal cards. Daniel looked Kevin in his eyes and nodded with a grin.

They played seven rounds before the caretaker knocked of their door, “Kids” she let herself in “It's time to take the fort down”

“What?! You can't take our kingdom!” Daniel gasped standing up “We want to sleep here tonight!”

“Yeah! We wanna sleep in our kingdom," Brian complained. “We worked hard on it."

“No, not tonight, boys. Maybe over the weekend," she compromised. They saw her shadow on the blanket that acted as their door. “Take the blankets down and put the pillows away, I’ll be back in a few minutes to push the dressers back," she walked away and closed the door behind her.

“She's just jealous!” Jack huffed. “Our castle is better than her castle!”

“I thought it was a kingdom,” Daniel frowned.

“Yeah, and this afternoon it was a spaceship.” Daithi pointed out. "Jack isn't very consistent."

“We were making an awesome fort this morning,” Brian muttered.

“Well, whatever it is, she's jealous!” Jack pointed out.

“She will never control us!” Brian stood up rebelliously. “But we should really take the blankets down… because we want to! Not because she told us."

“Yeah, plus the floor is hurting my butt!” Jack laughed.

Brian scooped up the pillows and threw them onto their respective beds. Kevin helped by going around fixing them, fluffing the pillows like his sister used to do. He climbed onto his bed, with Seán's assistance, and flopped down onto his back. He yawned and pulled Jim close to his chest. 

“We’re going to go brush our teeth, Kevin,” Jack clung onto the side of the bunk bed. “You don't have a brush yet but I think in a couple days, miss is taking some of us to town to get us more clothes and some other stuff," he dropped, pulling Kevin's dirty clothes with him “I'm putting your clothes on the empty bunk bed. It's broken so miss doesn't let anyone sleep there."

Kevin sat up and watched them all leave the room, waiting a few moments before lifting up Jim. He already visited Kevin once today, and it was the first time in a while that Jim had spoken to him. He didn't speak to him at all in the hospital or in the bathroom. it was strange for him. Jim was always singing, always whispering to Kevin. 

But now, for the first time since before his sister left, Jim Pickens had nothing to say. 

Kevin looked around the room as it all began to become clear. His family was dead. The dead aren't supposed to come back.

He had killed his family, burned down his home, and no one knew about it. Is that why Jim couldn't bring himself to say anything? It was a secret that needed to be locked away deep inside of him. For once people were being nice to him, people were trying to take care of him. The last person who did that disappeared - are they meant to do that? Is that why his mom and dad stuck around for so long? The world must work that way. The people who are born to care always must disappear. His eyes began to tear up. His bones shook and his heart traveled up his throat, getting stuck on dinner. He didn't want them to disappear.

The caretaker walked in just in time to see Kevin break down, truly realizing the situation he found himself in. Jim tricked him out of his family home, told him to destroy it. Convinced him it was the only way for Kevin to be happy. The caretaker climbed up onto the bed and hugged Kevin, who began to sob, Why did he listen?

The other boys stood outside their bedroom door, wanting to give Kevin some time to release everything he was too afraid to do in the view of his roommates. After a while, when all the other kids went to bed, Kevin stopped and the caretaker walked out of the bedroom. She crouched down and looked at the kids. "He's asleep now, but be careful with him, alright boys? He's a year younger than you guys, and he's very fragile."

"Did we do anything wrong?" Daniel asked, biting his lip.

"No, no, of course not. Something very bad happened to his family, and I think he's starting to realize that now. It's all a shock to him but once it goes away he'll talk and laugh with you guys. He just shouldn't be alone right now," she stood up and dusted her knees off "I'll move your dressers tomorrow, alright? Just get to bed now."

They all walked in silently. Kevin's bed was right next to the door and they all glanced towards him as they passed. The caretaker had tucked him in tightly between the covers so only the top of his head could be seen. Daithi climbed to his top bunk, peering over and watching Kevin’s chest slowly rise and fall. He sighed and disappeared into his blankets, leaving another kid to turn off the lights. Jack and Brian climbed into their beds, leaving Daniel, who stood in front of his bed looking up towards Kevin. He shuffled around and pulled out his pillow, throwing it up to Kevin's bed.

“What are you doing, mate?” Brian whispered.

“Anna said not to leave him alone. The first night is the hardest, we all know that," he whispered back, flipping the lights off. "I'll sleep next to him tonight so he knows he's not alone."

Daniel climbed their shared bunk bed and twisted until he was under the covers, everything around him except Kevin's breathing fell into silence. Even the clock that hung above the closet door seemed to quiet down.

No one wanted to wake Kevin up. Starting tomorrow, everything would be different for him, his roommates knew how that felt. Daithi and Brian were born in the street together. Daniel's mother didn't want him anymore. Seán never had a family to call his own. Even if they never spoke about it, they all understood that no matter what happens next, they would face it together.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, Kevin's house burns down, taking his family with him. He meets new friends at an orphanage and they teach him how to play Mario kart.
> 
> Also announcement, If you've read any other cmrt fics recently you'd know there's a discord! Don't be afraid to hope on and say hi
> 
> https://discord.gg/hqHr37w
> 
> Kudos, comments, and feedback are always appreciated.


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